Former Illinois high school basketball coach involved in enrollment scandal, report says

Mike Irvin, the former head basketball coach at Illinois’ Kenwood High School, conspired to fraudulently enroll at least 17 students to play at the school, according to the Chicago Public Schools’ Office of the Inspector General’s annual report released Wednesday.

Irvin resigned abruptly before the beginning of the season in November, but led Kenwood to super-sectional appearances in 2022 and 2023 and city title game appearances in 2023 and 2024.

According to the report, the CPS investigators found that at least half of the school’s varsity players over three years were fraudulently enrolled at the school. After finishing 90-26 in his four seasons with the Broncos, Irvin has been placed on the district’s ‘do-not-hire’ list.

According to WBEZ-Chicago, the inspector general’s office opened an investigation after receiving complaints from the school community, as well as a complaint from another CPS school’s head coach about one of his players being illegally recruited to Kenwood.

To meet to the district’s residency requirements, families of the players were reportedly given fake addresses in Kenwood’s attendance area, as well as assistance creating false supporting documents, including fake leases and utility bills.

“I’m not responding to a subjective report by an opinionated person,” Irvin told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday. “It’s a witch hunt, especially when five different versions of the story have already been told. To provide a fair account, it is important to examine the number of times Kenwood has been featured in the media regarding fraudulent enrollment [for non-basketball related issues].”

Connections to Mac Irvin Fire EYBL program

According to the report, nearly all of the players fraudulently enrolled were on Irvin’s club team, the Mac Irvin Fire. The overlap between the club program and Kenwood ranged from four to 10 players during the years investigated. And in three seasons, more than half of Kenwood’s team played for the highly successful program, which is against Illinois State High School Association rules.

The Irvin family are considered basketball royalty in the Chicago area, as Mike’s father Mac was a longtime coach who started the Mac Irvin Fire program. His brother, Byron, was a first-round pick for the Portland Trailblazers in 1989. His brother Lance is the head coach for the men’s basketball program at Chicago State University, and a third brother, Nick, is now an assistant at Western Illinois after winning four state titles in 12 seasons at the city’s Morgan Park Academy.

Irvin allegedly claimed he met his players when they enrolled at Kenwood, even though a number of them had already played for Mac Irvin Fire. He also denied he was the Fire’s CEO or ran the club team when investigators interviewed him, even though his resume reportedly lists him as CEO.

The inspector general first presented the evidence of five ineligible players to CPS and the IHSA in January 2024. However, Kenwood was allowed to play in the city tournament in February, including advancing all the way to the championship game.

When the Illinois High School Basketball state tournament came later that month, the IHSA ruled they were ineligible. Kenwood appealed to the IHSA board, which ruled that the school was allowed to participate, but without five ineligible players, two assistant coaches and Irvin.

According to the report, Irvin and his staff “blatantly violated myriad CPS and IHSA rules, and it should have been caught by the CPS Office of Sports Administration and the school’s administration.”